Friday, July 26, 2013

2. New Food Find: I am loving this Gazpacho Soup from Trader Joe's. Found in the refrigerator section $2.99/12 oz. container.

Gazpacho is a chilled soup made from tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, touch of sherry vinegar, a traditional dish served in the southern Spanish region of Andalucía. There is only about 45 cals in a 1/2 cup. I usually put about 1/2 cup in a bowl and thin it slightly with a Tablespoon or so of veggie or tomato juice and then to add some protein I sprinkled the top with a little cheese shaved Parmesan or a few fresh mozzarella cubes or some cooked shrimp or crab. Perfect meal for hot summer nights. You could certainly make it yourself easily enough but sometimes even I don't want to cook.

4. Treat recipes are back at Starbucks. So if you buy a drink in the AM (or anyone in your family does) take back your receipt after 2 PM (through 8/18) and you get any Grande Iced Beverage for $2. Some decent choices are available for us... Iced Lattes or Iced Coffees with Sugar Free Vanilla, Hazelnut, Caramel, or Cinnamon Dolce Syrup. 2% Milk is standard but you can ask for non-fat or soy (FYI: the soy is vanilla soy and sweetened.) Not a coffee person... try the Shaken Iced Teas but be sure to ask for unsweetened or if you want it sweet... have them replace the full sugar Classic Syrup they use with SF Vanilla Syrup or a grab a few sweetener packets from the milk bar.

5. We are getting close to the "Your Weight Matters" National Convention in Phoenix. It's less than 3 weeks away!! I hope some of you have decided to make the trip and join me. For more information: www.YWMConvention.com advanced ticket purchases can be made till August 1st (check out the current issue of Your Weight Matter Magazine page 9 for a coupon)

Can't be in Phoenix that weekend and want to still take part? Here's a few ways: Follow the action on Twitter. Be sure to friend @ObesityAction, @Eggface and follow the #YWM2013 official hashtag.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

A day in my pouch is a series of blog posts (I try and post them every few days) to show what a typical daily menu looks like in my post weight loss surgery world.

Breakfast: A planned power outage in my area forced me out of the house. 90% of my business requires me to be online so I really couldn't be off the grid for the whole day. The plan was to hang at Starbucks for a few hours and when I couldn't justify loitering anymore I'd run some errands. I took a walk at the park first thing before it got hot then it was off to Bux. Breakfast was a Sugar Free Vanilla Soy Latte and 2 of these leftover Pancake Bites tossed in a Ziploc baggie.

Lunch: Stopped at Costco for some more of that Tilapia I've been using in my fish packets and picked up some cooked shrimp. When I got home nothing was blinking (clocks, stove) so basically the electric company never shut the power off like they said they would and I could have been home all day. Grrr. I filled up my bento box with yummy stuff and and sat outside on the patio bitching about them... remember when they fried my computer, speakers, power strip a few months ago. Well... since then I found a few more things that incident had fried... a DVD/TV I used for my exercise video watching in the garage, a fan and my garage door opener. So they are not my favorite people.

Dinner: Sliced up some zucchini placed it on a piece of foil. Add a piece of any fish you like (I used Tilapia.) Sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano, add 1/4 cup store-bought Bruschetta Sauce (found near fresh pasta usually.) Wrap everything in foil tightly.

Toss on a covered BBQ for 20 (defrosted) - 25 (frozen) minutes and depending on the thickness of the fillet. Don't open the lid. Trust me it will come out perfect every time and best of all. Eat it directly from the packet and there is zero clean-up. OK maybe a fork.

Friday, July 19, 2013

I love these little meatloaves. We use a couple for dinner then wrap the others individually in foil and place them in a gallon-size freezer Ziploc bag. Then we can pull them out and nuke them anytime we need a stress-free lunch or dinner. You can also defrost and crumble them and use them in soup, in a lettuce cup or as a topping for a Tortilla Pizza.

This version tastes exactly like a Reuben Sandwich, the NY Deli staple grilled sandwich made with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand island or Russian dressing on rye bread but healthier.

For dinner they are great with sauteed spinach, green beans or a mixed green salad. I served them twice this week once with green beans and once with a broiled tomato. Just a tomato sliced in three. Sprinkled with cheese (I used Ricotta Salad and Parmesan) and oregano. Broiled till golden and bubbly 2-3 minutes.

Soak oatmeal in milk for 1 minute (you can use almond meal or bread crumbs if you do bread) Beat egg. Add egg and soaked oats to ground turkey. Add all remaining ingredients. Mix till combined. Divide into 8 equal mounds. Form into mini meatloaves or if you have this super groovy pan like me use it. Smear a 1/2 teaspoon of dressing on the top of each loaf.

Bake for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Place 1/2 a piece of Swiss Cheese on top of cooked loaves and broil for a minute till cheese is golden and bubbly. These freeze well either cooked or uncooked.

I have found the trick to eating leftovers as a post-op is to keep things moist. I love this gadget for that. You put a couple of tablespoons of water in the base and it steam heats the food. Totally keeps foods from drying out. One of the best post-op gadgets in my kitchen.

Tickets to the 2nd Annual OAC Awards Dinner are included
in Full Convention Registration to the "Your Weight Matters" Convention but can also be purchased separately. To
learn more about registering for the Convention and/or this event, please
visit the official Convention Web site at www.YWMConvention.com.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Most people have heard that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" but mornings can be crazy busy and I don't even have whippersnappers. Busy and without a plan in the morning can lead to grabbing some carby sugar bomb from a coffee shop pastry case, a greasy drive-thru breakfast or skipping breakfast altogether. Oh and if you think skipping breakfast saves calories it doesn't, research shows that people that skip breakfast tend to overeat at their next meal or graze the rest of the day to fight off hunger. With a little planning (Sunday's are a perfect prep day) you can have a week of healthy, protein packed breakfasts ready in a snap.

Here are 7 of my favorite Grab and Go Breakfast Go-To Recipes:

1. Egg "Bites" (aka Crustless Quiche) - 24 cup mini muffin pan. 5 eggs and random stuff from your fridge, veggie bin, or leftovers and you have tons of protein packed breakfasts. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days, they freeze too. Reheat in toaster oven or microwave.

7. Pancake Bites or Ricotta Pancakes - Make these on the weekend, leftovers reheat easily in the microwave or they are delicious cold. Great on their own or smear some almond butter or Sugar free jam in the middle, wrap in foil and go.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

If you keep healthy food in your fridge, you will eat healthy food. Make your house a SAFE ZONE. I can't always control the world outside, what is around me at a party or in an office but I can control what sits on my counter, in my pantry or in my fridge. Making the healthy choice is easy when there are only healthy choices to be made.

This picture was taken this morning at my Farmer's Market. Click on the link to see more pictures from my market and enter your zip code to find a markets or CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) in your area.

Some
of these bad boys are mine all mine now. Half the zucchini will be grilled and the other half will become one of those quick & easy fish foil packet dinners. I just made a few Caprese Skewers with some of those tomatoes (they are sweeter than candy) and we're taking them to the park for lunch. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

The random generator has selected:KjKjnovak75@xxx.xxx
Congratulations!!! You are the winner of a bottle of the NEW S'mores flavor Sugar Free Torani Syrup and cool Coleman Picnic Set.

Thank you for entering. Not a winner this time... no worries I have several AWESOME Eggface
Giveaway's in the works so be sure to follow along on the Blog, Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest for the latest eggciting announcements!

Lunch: It was odd weather yesterday, sort of Florida-ish, humid and the sky threatened rain. At one point we got a few spots, just enough to smear the skylights and make the ants outside happy. Speaking of ants. Warning: never spray ant killer on a breezy day. The other night I went out and saw an ant hill so I grabbed my trusty bug spray and zapped them. A breeze blew some back at me and I inhaled it. No big deal or so I thought... within a few minutes it wasn't pretty. I thought I might have to bite the bullet and go to urgent care. I road it out (no health insurance sucks) but I wasn't OK for most of the day. Coughing, difficulty breathing, gnarly headache, shakes, attempted puking (I don't really puke post WLS weight loss surgery.) I'm feeling no long term effects but if I develop a third eye or something we know how it happened. D*** ants better have had it worse than I did.

Anyway despite the mixed bag weather I took lunch outside. It has been my 2013 goal to get outdoors more... my bento box helps.

The salad was a new Trader Joe's find (in the refrigerator section.) Shredded Broccoli, Carrots, and Cabbage, chopped Kale leaves, Red Onion, Chicken, Dried Cranberries. Sunflower Seeds and a Sweet and Spicy Vinaigrette come on the side and can be added to the extent you want to up the calories.

It very tasty. I will be adding it to my Trader Joe's Shopping List. Generous side dish portion enough for at least 2-3 people/$3.99 per container.

Dinner: Easiest way to cook fish ever. I had some Zucchini that needed using, a Green Onion, some Dill, a little Lime Zest, a tablespoon of Olive Oil, Tilapia Fillet (Costco.) Wrap everything in foil tightly.

Toss on a covered BBQ for 20 (defrosted) - 25 (frozen) minutes and depending on the thickness of the fillet. Don't open the lid. Trust me it will come out perfect every time.

The guide covers everything from transportation from the airport, parking, schedule of events, registration check-in procedure, social event information, and what to wear. If you are registered you should have received it from your Welcoming Committee member but if you haven't registered yet (what are you waiting for?! It's going to be GREAT!) it's available online.

Ohhh and if you haven't heard the NFL will be in attendance. Thursday night at the Member Mingle their will be an awesome presentation "Teaming up to Tackle Obesity" that will feature special guests and former NFL
athletes Corey Louchiey and James Thornton, who will tell their personal
stories about how they are tackling obesity with two different approaches.

About Me

I had my guts rearranged (aka Weight Loss Surgery, RNY gastric bypass surgery June 2006) This blog is basically me rambling about my world. I also post recipes that I've adapted to make weight loss surgery friendly.
I love to cook.
I have always loved to cook. It's my creative outlet. I was scared that having weight loss surgery would put an end to my days in the kitchen but happily it did not. I actually get to be even more creative by analyzing a favorite recipe and seeing where I can make changes to make a healthier version of a pre-op favorite.